Unwritten Law fell into my life in this weird way where Bakersfield, CA always ended up being a place for bands to hone their craft… not too far from LA, not too far from San Francisco, not too snobby to let you show up and either rock our faces off OR fall on your own face.
The fun thing about Bakersfield though is we’re usually and I say usually, not always, nice to you if you do fall on your face. Bakersfield back in my day (no really get off my lawn) was so excited to get shows that it didn’t matter if you were good or not or if you were controversial or not or if fuck, I don’t know, you lived there already. No we’re not looking at you at all Korn. (Yes we are.)
Unwritten Law is from San Diego, CA. And they’re a punk band. They played Bakersfield a bunch of times. Like I’m talking double digits before the legend of Unwritten Law became a thing. A lot of this was in support of the “Blue Room,” album but then this MONSTER fucking record that is the self titled UL record or as some people call it, the “Black Album” came out, their major label debut album…
This was 24 years ago. This album came out 24 years ago.
(Shit, this picture was taken 15 years ago…)
The song that got the most attention off of it was obviously “Cailin.” Cailin was about UL’s lead singer Scott Russo’s daughter Cailin. It did not do poorly on the alt charts at all. It’s a very sweet song. The song’s namesake is a grown woman now, a model and an artist in her own right. (Her band Russo has this killer song called “Ghost,” that you need to hear like yesterday.)
However the self titled album has a bunch of surprises for you if you don’t know it like a weirdo like I do. There are two full on anthems on it. “Teenage Suicide,” and “the epic and I do mean EPIC song “California Sky.”
“California Sky,” is everything a band could ever do in the 90s to get major airplay all over alternative radio. Y’all want a skate punk band that’s less crass than NoFX but still has a good time? Y’all want a band that loves their home state? Wait, do you want their singer to be really good looking and intense? You want melodies and cool lyrics? You want a video with aliens and the Heaven’s Gate guy? Fuck yeah, here's Unwritten Law and their not exactly a pentagram logo. They’ve got you covered.
But… seriously wait, there is more hidden genius on this record that most people just blow past.
There is a song on this record called “418.” I haven’t heard the physical CD in some time but if I remember right it almost came across as a hidden track.
This song and the album that contained it came out in 1998.
It’s weird. It’s trippy. There is a fucking Didgeridoo being played and some weird disembodied voice that isn’t Scott Russo reading a poem or something.
Would you like to know who played that Didgeridoo and read spoken word on this track, this brilliant and weird meandering not at all what UL is like track?
It’s Brandon Boyd from Incubus.
Like no big deal, here’s Brandon Boyd reading poetry or something and Mike Einziger from Incubus who would go on to release their major label debut in the next year or so and literally put out the biggest alt/active rock song of 1999 that didn’t have Fred Durst on it. No biggy. It’s just Incubus… Just a bunch of bros, bro-ing out on some song that is at the end of the album….
(I’ve never in my life met Brandon Boyd. Not even over 10 times. That’d be crazy talk.)
UL’s next two albums “Elva,” and “Here’s to the Mourning” had bigger success and did bigger shit on the charts and dragged them all over the world but the self titled is what kicked the door open.